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Sparkbrook councillor Salma Yaqoob has joined the opposition to Moseley School’s enforced merger with nearby Queensbridge accusing Birmingham Council of a “disgraceful slur” against concerned parents.

Yaqoob was responding to The Stirrer’s reports that Moseley is effectively being taken over by its neighbour – even though it has a better GCSE pass rate when English and Maths are taken into account.

The Council justified removing parent governors by accusing them of “refusal to implement a plan to secure improvements in standards.”

“That’s a disgraceful slur,” Yaqoob said. “They are treating parents as part of the problem, not part of the solution.

“Across the city they can’t get enough school governors, and yet this is how they treat those who do come forward.

“The suggestion that parent governors are the obstacle to standards being raised is awful. They are the ones who raise concerns in the first place.

“They are articulate, and committed to the school. I suspect that’s why they’ve been removed – they are hardworking, intelligent, and able to question.”

Yaqoob says that she has won cross-party consensus against the merger, and argues that Education Secretary Ed Balls has only sanctioned the move on the basis of inaccurate information supplied by Council officers.

And she drew parallels with the recent enforced confederation between Conway and Greet schools.